- Softcover
- Used

Seller: Book Grocer, Tullamarine, VIC, AustraliaBook Grocer
AbeBooks seller since October 15, 2025
Condition: Used
£ 10.65
Quantity: 3 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Karin Boye, Penguin Books Ltd. The classic dystopian novel from Sweden, written at the midpoint between Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four Leo Kall is a zealous, middle-ranking scientist in the totalitarian World State who has just made a thrilling discovery- a new drug, Kallocain, that will force anyone who takes it to tell the truth. At last, criminality will be dragged out into the open and private thought can finally be outlawed. But can the World State be trusted with Kallocain? For that matter - can Kall himself be trusted? Written as the terrible events of the Second World War were unfolding, Karin Boye's classic dystopian novel speaks more clearly than ever of the dangers of acquiescence, and the power of resistance, no matter how futile.Karin Boye (1900-41), born in Sweden, was a poet and anti-Fascist who translated The Waste Land into Swedish. After undergoing psychoanalysis in Berlin, she left her husband and formed a lifelong relationship with another woman, Margot Hanel. Her most famous book, Kallocain (1940), was partly inspired by eye-opening trips to Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Boye committed suicide the year after writing the novel. David McDuff's translations for Penguin Classics include Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot, and Babel's short stories.…
Seller Inventory # 9780241608302-RETAIL
- Title
- Kallocain
- Author
- Karin Boye
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Publication year
- 2023
- Book Type
- Paperback
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0241608309
- ISBN 13
- 9780241608302
- Item weight
- 0.145 grams
- Dimensions
- 129
A pioneering work of dystopian fiction from one of Sweden's most acclaimed writers
Written midway between Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four, as the terrible events of the Second World War were unfolding, Kallocain depicts a totalitarian 'World State' which seeks to crush the individual entirely. In this desolate, paranoid landscape of 'police eyes' and 'police ears', the obedient citizen and middle-ranking scientist Leo Kall discovers a drug that will force anyone who takes it to tell the truth. But can private thought really be obliterated? Karin Boye's chilling novel of creeping alienation shows the dangers of acquiescence and the power of resistance, no matter how futile.
Translated with an introduction by David McDuff
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
David McDuff's translations for Penguin Classics include Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot, and Babel's short stories.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Book Grocer
Tullamarine, VIC, Australia
AbeBooks seller since October 15, 2025
Shipping rates from Australia to U.S.A.
| Item | 15 to 25 business days | 7 to 14 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 22.27 | £ 37.12 |
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Store description
Book Grocer - Australia's best bargain bookstore. We stock over 100,000 titles, all discounted and ready to ship from our Melbourne warehouse. We buy and sell second hand books. Book Grocer is Australian and family-owned since 2000.
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Fiction, History, Children's - all categoriesSeller's business information
Castlebooks Pty Ltd
5/101 Keilor Park Drive
Tullamarine, VIC Australia 3043
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